Disclaimer: I do not own Charmed. Are you shocked by this? Well, we'll just have to learn to live with the disappointment, I guess.
Chapter 2
Fear is a funny thing...used positively, it can make you stronger, more cautious, more confident. The reverse of that, of course, is that it can make you reckless, paranoid, and it can paralyze you...overtake your life, if you let it. Our fears drive us, haunt us, cause us to lose focus...
Mark breathed in the damp air of the underworld as he smiled to himself...mission accomplished. Those Halliwells would never know what hit them. He was gaining power rapidly now. Evil was rallying around him. The Underworld had been a mess over the last 10 years or so, since the Charmed ones had scattered them. They were leaderless. Unfocused. And then, at last, he had come into his own. He was truly his father's son. Only with more power.
"My Leige?"
"Yes, Nebiros?"
"Shall we begin?"
"Not just yet. Let their fear for her take hold of them. They will become reckless, especially the Twice Blessed. His feelings for her cloud his judgement, and that will affect his powers." Mark closed his eyes thoughtfully. This was almost too easy.
-----------------------------
"Can I at least go to Magic School?" Alicia pleaded over breakfast, "I mean, really, guys. I'm fine. A little sore, and a little confused, but I'm ok."
"We just don't want you to be alone, kiddo," Leo said, taking a seat at the table.
Alicia smiled at his concern. He's gonna be calling me kiddo when I'm 30, I think. "I know, but you all have things going on today, and there's a football game tonight, and..."
Chris choked on his eggs. "Oh, Helll, no. You're not going to the game, are you kidding?"
"Why not?" Henry asked.
"Because Mark is on the football team, Uncle Henry. And Chris is right, Alicia. You can't go." Wyatt spoke softly, the scene from earlier that morning still playing in his mind. "I'll take you to Magic School after breakfast, if you want, ok?" Something wasn't quite right here, he just wasn't sure what.
She doesn't trust you, said a little voice in his head. You're her best friend - you love her - and she doesn't trust you.
"Sure." Alicia flashed Wyatt her brightest smile. "And then I'll see you at the game later, ok? I'll be ready to go to Magic School in an hour." And with that, she took her plate to the sink, and walked out of the kitchen.
"Wait...what? No, no, no. You're not going!" Wyatt called after her. Piper and Phoebe shared a look, and tried rather unsuccessfully, to hide their smiles.
An hour later, Wyatt found Alicia with Mel and Henry, Jr. in the living room, looking at pictures. "Ready?" He said as he conjured the door with a grin.
"Uh-huh. What are you grinning about?"
"Just remembering the first time you were at Magic School..."
--------------------
"Shhh...just do it, Wy." Chris whispered.
"I'm going, Toph, gimme a minute!" Wyatt whispered back.
A 10-year-old Alicia stood behind them shaking her head in complete disbelief. "You guys are nuts, you know that?"
The Halliwell boys just looked at each other and grinned. "Yup." And with that, they grabbed Alicia's hand and pulled her through the door, and into Magic School.
"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MINDS?!? I'M NOT ALLOWED IN MAGIC SCHOOL. Hellooo, mortal!" Alicia grabbed Wyatt by the ear, and pulled him toward her, hissing "If we get caught, you are sooo dead, Halliwell..."
"Relax, Kit, you'll blend in."
"Really, Chris? Have a lot of kids with no powers at Magic School, do ya?"
"...Whatcha, doin' there, guys? Wyatt, hellooo..."
"Hey there, Aunt Paige, we're just...aw, crap." Wyatt and Chris turned to face their aunt, who was smirking at them and trying not to laugh.
"Alicia, hun, can you wait here a second? I need to have a word with my nephews...move it, you two!" Paige herded them into an empty classroom across the hall. "Are you kidding me with this? You're sneaking her into magic school? I know she's your best friend, and she's like family to us, but guys..."
"...Aunt Paige, she is like family, and, um...don't you think she should know more about magic? I mean, she's had 'demon-interrupted' dinners with us, she's always with me or Wy, and eventually they could try to use her to get to us...don't you think she should be prepared for that?" Chris said.
Nice, bro. Very nice.
Thanks.
"Ok. You actually have a point there...make sure you remember it when The Elders find out she's here..." and with that, Paige walked back into the hall, leaving two very surprised boys in her wake.
-----------------------------------
"Oh. You mean when you guys snuck me in?" She smiled, not letting her inner fear show. Did she really want to be alone at Magic School for hours? "Let's go."
It had been a couple of hours since Wyatt had left her to meet with the Elders. Alicia was curled up in the library reading her favorite book, "Crossed, Double-Crossed". It wasn't that the story itself was spectacular, but the story within the story? Got her every time. She was about to close her eyes when she heard footsteps. She turned around expecting to see one of the Halliwells, or a teacher, but there was no one there. Nice, Alicia, she thought to herself. Paranoid much? She turned back to her book, only too see papers ruffle on a table across the room. "Hello?" She whispered.
"Good book?"
Where is that voice coming from?
"You know, Alicia, it's not nice to run out on your dates..."
Nooooo. No freaking way.
"...you could hurt a guy's feelings, ya know." He could sense her mind reeling out of control, panic setting in, immobilizing her. Perfect.
"Mark? W-What are you doing here? How did you get here? How do you even know about..."
"Magic? You'd be surprised at what I know."
"That's the understatement of the century," she spat back.
Before she could react further, he stretched out his arm, and she flew across the room, hitting the wall with a soft thud. "I have quite a few surprises in store for all of you."
"Chris..." she muttered as she passed out on the cold marble floor.
----------------
"Hey, there. You ok?" Chris lifted Aicia's head onto his lap as he looked around the room. "What happened?"
"Ow. Watch the head, please. Mark happened."
Chris stared at his friend. "Um, maybe you hit your head harder than I thought. No way did some idiot football player stumble into Magic School."
"Yeah, well he also flung me across the room like a rag doll."
"He has powers?" Chris rolled his eyes "Why does that not surprise me. Let's get you back to the manor, and we'll check the Book of Shadows."
-----------------
Wyatt had had enough. This was nothing new. He crossed his arms and sighed as the Elders continued their "a-great-evil-is-out-to-get-your-family" speech.
"We have been sensing the approach of a new evil." ...No way. Really? "Our contacts lead us to believe that there will soon be a new source, and that he/she is particularly out for revenge on the Halliwell family." I am shocked and amazed... "I understand that there was a situation involving a friend of yours...we believe they may be related." Whoa. Hold up... "We are also assigning a new elder to act as a temporary go between..."
"Oh Helllll, no..."
"...in addition to the whitelighters in your family. A few months ago, we were made aware of your intention to pursue a relationship with...Alicia, was it?" Wyatt nodded. Where the hell was this going? "And we decided that in the interest of keeping her safe, you would remain friends, correct?" Could this conversation be any more absurd? "It has recently come to our attention that prehaps we...misjudged the significance of your ...ahem...friendship, with Alicia, and it will be this Elder's responsibility to determine our next move where that is concerned."
"Wait...huh?" He looked at the Elders in complete disbelief. "You're telling me that all of a sudden you're changing your minds? Why now? And you think you can just snap your fingers and BOOM, we're together? You are out of your minds!"
Wyatt looked like he was about to blow something up. How dare they try to run his life! And Alicia's! Did he want to be with her? Obviously. Did she want to be with him? He thought so. But neither of them were going to do things simply because the Elders said so!
Without another word, Wyatt orbed back to the manor before he lost that famous Hallliwell temper.
"Welllll...that was interesting. Anyone else need a drink?" He walked into the Halliwell-filled kitchen, leaving a flabbergasted bunch of Elders staring at thin air.
---------------------------------------
"Let me get this straight," Piper fumed as the toaster blew up involuntarily "They're anticipating a new source, and now, after months of asking you to bury your feelings..."
"Mom..."
"Wyatt, take me up there, right now. Stupid Elders..." Piper muttered.
Before Wyatt could say another word, white orbs appeared in the kitchen...When Phoebe saw the person they were forming into, her head hit the table with a loud smack. "You have got to be kidding me."